Greetings,
Long time no talk. Hope you and yours are well!
I don't yet have enough time to do the full nine yards of the podcast, but I can't restrain myself from jumping back in the fray. So I'll be using my new Twitter account to live tweet the debate tonight. @JeroldBlock
For those who didn't hear that long ago podcast, Jerold Block is my legal name, Jack Clark a podcasting pen name. As to why I adopted a pen name, it's somewhat of a long story, and I'll send out a link to that podcast when I figure out which one it was :-)
In the meantime, I hope you can follow me on Twitter! @JeroldBlock
If you're not already on Twitter, please do sign up, it takes a second.
I'm really looking forward to this. Not more (just) shouting at the computer screen!
I'll be learning how to use Twitter in real time here, but hey, what's the fun without a challenge?!

Again, thanks for all your expressions of concern and good wishes. Blast The Right has been on an extended break as I take care of some long-neglected personal matters. I will return. If you want to be added to the mailing list to keep up-to-date on future developments, please drop me a line.

Until I return, you've told me that re-broadcasting some select past episodes would be welcome. So here, in it's entirety, is a show highly relevant to the current political scene and I think well worth hearing again.

This is a real old show (nearly 5 years). There's no transcript. It doesn't have my usual Blast The Right intro theme, or a lot of the other elements of more recent shows. And back then I spoke real slowly. But persevere: this is a must-listen!

Original Show Notes:

32 - Listen to Martin Luther King, Jr. Speak To Us About the War on Terrorism

When Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "Beyond Vietnam" speech at the Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967, he was not only laying out a case against the Vietnam War and the negative role the U.S. was playing in the world. No, Dr. King was speaking to us also, in words eerily prophetic about our present day crusade in Iraq and our efforts to thwart democracy in Haiti, Bolivia, Venezuela and a host of other nations.

Long time no talk. Thanks for all your expressions of concern and good wishes. Blast The Right has been on an extended break as I take care of some long-neglected personal matters. I will return. I apologize for not letting you know what's going on sooner. If you want to be added to the mailing list to keep up-to-date on future developments, please drop me a line.

Until I return, you've told me that re-broadcasting some select past episodes would be welcome. So here, in it's entirety, is a show highly relevant to the current political scene and I think well worth hearing again.

Original Show Notes:

Today, a subject that initially appears not that sexy. I'm talking about budget deficits and the national debt.

But -- you'll see how the cold, hard facts reveal right-wingers at their lying and destructive worst. As is often the case, the right accuses others of that which they're most guilty of themselves. They accuse Obama of tripling the budget deficit, while in reality it was George W. Bush who did so.

And, you'll hear, it turns out that there's a strong moral, social justice component involved here as well. The right's ballooning of the national debt is all part of their plan to "starve the beast." The right wants to make sure the government is bankrupt and unable to accomplish anything in the economic justice realm.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Today, more on the Arizona immigration law and efforts to fight this latest right-wing outrage. Plus, progressive efforts to achieve economic justice in New York and elsewhere. Right-wing racism rears its ugly head throughout. And you'll hear a clip of Glenn Beck you won't believe. Actually, you probably will, if you know him.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: episodes of Blast The Right will be posted every three weeks.

Today, we'll take a look at the Arizona "your papers please" statute, with a large emphasis on the historical context in which it was passed: long-standing and pervasive right-wing racism.

Before analyzing any legislation touching on race that comes from the right, it's absolutely critical to know the right's history in this realm.

With this law, and with any measure proposed by right-wingers that touches on race, progressives must immediately issue the challenge: "Mr. or Ms. Right-Winger, any measure you propose is automatically suspect as being racist, given right-wing past practice and behavior. The burden is on you to prove otherwise."

This show provides the historical evidence you can draw upon to be able to confidently make this assertion to your friendly local right-winger. Included will be, what I call the Five Pillars of Ronald Reagan's racism. Also along the way, you'll hear some hair-raising clips of racist comments by prominent right-wing media personalities.

You'll also learn about the hidden goals of the "show me your papers" law.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: episodes of Blast The Right will be posted every three weeks.

Today, an examination of a phenomenon that's recently come out into the open: the right-wing's worship, and hard-line defense of, the ultra-wealthy. You'll hear the who, what, when, where and why.

I have some exclusive stats for you that may well blow your mind. The picture ain't pretty.

You'll hear the answers to questions like these: which 25 guys made more than all the teachers, firemen and policemen in New York City? What wonderful things did these 25 guys do to earn all that money? And what kind of terrible tax burden are these 25 guys being subject to?

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: episodes of Blast The Right will be posted every three weeks.

Today, we'll dissect the right-wing's still-continuing lies and hypocrisy about the recently passed health care legislation. This will lead us into a broader discussion of social and economic justice, and the right-wing's aversion to both.

Did you know the right has its own sociopathic credo, called Social Darwinism? This is among the gems you'll discover as you listen to the the show. Lots of cold hard facts as well, in order to better discombobulate your friendly local right-winger.

As an added bonus, you'll have the pleasure of listening to select audio clips of such wonderful human beings as Ronald Reagan, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. Don't worry, a strong dose of FDR oratory will wash away any bad taste caused by the aforementioned master propagandists of the right.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: episodes of Blast The Right will be posted every three weeks.

To start off with, multiple QuickBlasts to give you ammo in the water cooler wars over the economy and health care reform. A cornucopia of right-wing lies and hypocrisy conclusively disposed of.

Then, a foreign policy roundup: where things are going well, and not so well, in the Third World's struggle to be free of Western economic domination. A lot of ups and downs, but overall headed in a positive direction.

Today, a subject that initially appears not that sexy. I'm talking about budget deficits and the national debt.

But -- you'll see how the cold, hard facts reveal right-wingers at their lying and destructive worst. As is often the case, the right accuses others of that which they're most guilty of themselves. They accuse Obama of tripling the budget deficit, while in reality it was George W. Bush who did so.

And, you'll hear, it turns out that there's a strong moral, social justice component involved here as well. The right's ballooning of the national debt is all part of their plan to "starve the beast." The right wants to make sure the government is bankrupt and unable to accomplish anything in the economic justice realm.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: episodes of Blast The Right will be posted every three weeks.

Today, a look at how Haiti has been battered from pillar to post by the West. How right-wing policies have destroyed that nation. An analysis you won't hear on any mainstream corporate-owned media. An antidote to the "aren't we noble" claims you hear when we send Haitians some charitable aid.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: episodes of Blast The Right will be posted every three weeks.

Today, as befits the holiday season, I'm going to show you how to ratchet up the pressure quite a bit on those phony Christians I call right-wing pseudo-Christians.

You'll soon be able to make them distinctly uncomfortable, if not downright apoplectic.

It has something to do with the fact, that right-wing pseudo-Christians spend their whole lives fervently working to achieve the exact opposite of what Jesus commanded them to do regarding their brother and sister human beings in need.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: episodes of Blast The Right will be posted every three weeks.

Today, an examination of the GOP's institutionalized racism, extending from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan to the current de facto head of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh.

Starting in the 1960's, the Republican "Southern strategy" used racist appeals to garner the support of whites who were upset at the Democratic Party for leading the effort to enact civil rights legislation.

You'll get some powerful talking points to use the next time you're told by a right-winger how wonderful Ronald Reagan was. I call them, the five pillars of Ronald Reagan's racism. You'll also hear an especially sickening audio clip from Limbaugh.

To close out the show, a killer QuickBlast for the health care debate. You'll see how the right wing has scored a big fat zero with its health care reform proposal.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: episodes of Blast The Right will be posted every three weeks.

Today, in a change of pace, a single subject podcast: trickle-down economics and the unsustainable economic inequality and social ills it produces.

Sometimes escaping from the mouth of a right-winger is an utterance so jaw-dropping, that it merits an entire show.

Brian Griffiths is a Goldman, Sachs international advisor. He was recently discussing Wall Street salaries and bonuses. You've probably heard that the financial industry is all set to award itself a record $140 billion in total compensation this year. Goldman, Sachs all by its lonesome will pass out $23 billion in bonuses.

Griffiths said in defense of such numbers:

We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieve greater prosperity and opportunity for all

In case your brain has the same reaction mine did the first time I heard that -- this doesn't compute, this doesn't compute -- let me repeat it.

This former advisor to Margaret Thatcher said with a straight face:

We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieve greater prosperity and opportunity for all

Ah, trickle down economics. Thatchernomics. Reaganomics. Right-wing economics. Let me become filthy rich, it will be better for you also, better for everyone.

Really?

I think not. As one economist summed up the available empirical evidence:

Trickle-down theory…predicts a positive correlation between inequality and economic growth, the idea being that income disparities strengthen motivation to get ahead. Yet when researchers track the data within individual countries over time, they find a negative correlation.

For more details, please do listen to the show (and you'll also hear an amazing soundbite of Bill O'Reilly at his worst).

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: episodes of Blast The Right will be posted every three weeks.

Today, more on the progressive effort to reform our health care system. More right-wing lies debunked. More hard cold facts you can throw at your friendly local right-wingers to stop them in their tracks.

Questions answered include:

--how does the U.S. health care system stack up against the universal coverage nations?

--how are Republicans shooting themselves in the foot by playing a 1961 clip of Ronald Reagan?

--what is the "death book" right-wingers are screaming about?

--what purpose do private insurance companies serve?

--shouldn't we oppose our socialist fire departments?

Listen to the podcast for all the details, and some great audio clips.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: during the summer, Blast The Right will come out every three weeks.

Today, a return to health care reform. More right-wing distortions, half-truths, and outright lies. Debunked for your listening and debating pleasure. And along the way, you'll hear some jaw-dropping audio clips.

This show is somewhat of a continuation of podcast 152. There, you heard the facts about such false right wing claims as:

--the U.S. has the best health care system in the world--universal coverage nations have long waiting lists compared to the U.S.--Obama's plan is socialized medicine

Now we'll add to that by debunking several additional right-wing talking points, such as:

--the Democrats want to destroy Medicare--the American people oppose a public option--the Democratic plan will require you to select your method of suicide--the American public opposes taxing the wealthy to pay for health care reform

You'll also hear an astounding display of mathematical illiteracy by one your favorite cable talk show hosts.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: during the summer, Blast The Right will come out every three weeks.

In recent podcasts you've heard about the hottest issues du jour, such as health care reform and the Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination. This show will address issues not, for the most part, as immediately applicable to the water cooler wars.

There's a whole world of strife, struggle, bloodshed and sometimes progressive victory out there. It's all about the Third World's centuries-long attempt to throw off Western economic exploitation. That struggle is my real passion. Here you'll get a whirlwind review -- things that caught my eye, and that I think you might want to be aware of, pay attention to over the coming months.

Particular attention will be paid to how Obama is doing in this foreign policy realm.

The linchpin to understanding all this is my Four Pillars concept, my analysis of the ways the First World economically exploits the Third World. The Four Pillars are how the right effectuates the supreme right-wing directive: transfer wealth from everyone else to the already rich.

I go over these Four Pillars in detail in podcast 137. That's a seminal podcast that I urge you to listen to if you haven't.

In short, the Four Pillars are:

1 - sweetheart contracts for natural resources

2 - unfair conditions of international trade

3 - dubious loans that ensnare Third World countries on a debt treadmill, and

4 - imposition of so-called "structural adjustment programs"

Woe to any nation that challenges any of the Four Pillars. The Four Pillars will pop up again and again as we go through the day.

Let's start by going over some overall stats...

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: during the summer, Blast The Right will come out every three weeks.

Today, the focus is on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

You just won't believe the onslaught of disinformation and outright lies coming from the right.

But actually, that is just what you'd expect, isn't it?

Here you'll find all the ammo you'll need to shoot down their propaganda.

Cold, hard facts will demonstrate:

--Judge Sotomayor's "wise Latina woman with rich experience" comment was made in the context of judging discrimination cases, and is similar to comments by right-wing Justices Alito and Thomas

--Judge Sotomayor's court rulings, including the Ricci case, are mainstream in the areas of race, business and crime, as even the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times admit

--her Supreme Court reversal rate is consistent with other judges

--her "appeals courts make policy" statement is something first year law school students learn, since appeals courts set precedents that other courts must follow concerning the interpretation and application of statutes

--President Obama's statement about "empathy" being an important characteristic for a Supreme Court judge is exactly what the first President Bush and several Republican Senators have said, and

--groups Judge Sotomayor has associated with, such as La Raza and Latino Justice, are mainstream, not radical.

Check out the podcast for all the supporting evidence.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Scheduling note: during the summer, Blast The Right will come out every three weeks.

Today, a change of pace -- not one or two long segments, but several shorter ones.

Subjects include:

-- debunking right-wing War on Terror talking points

-- dissecting conservative economic philosophy

-- answering the query, how many Americans support socialism over capitalism

-- following up on Dick Cheney's old company electrocuting U.S. soldiers in Iraq

-- and, last but not least, exposing yet one more example of right-wing hypocrisy

For example, did you know that right-wingers still run around claiming waterboarding saved Los Angeles, when the undisputed fact is, the guy waterboarded was first captured a year after that Los Angeles plot had been broken up?

Check out the podcast for all the details...

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Imagine you're the ultimate right-winger, one of Wall Street's Masters of the Universe. You've made make huge profits by engaging in reckless financial behavior. Your irresponsible actions have brought the world's financial system to the brink of collapse. You then grab hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars more, as the government tries to stabilize and repair the system.

Finally, to top it all off, you largely succeed in blaming the entire mess on a liberal gay congressman and a federal law designed to help the poor.

Liberals, gays, the poor. Three right-wing bugaboos.

This is a right-winger's fantasy dream.

And it seems like it's coming true for them.

In order to counter all the right-wing spin and outright lies about the causes of the global financial crisis and the best remedies for it, you have to see the entire picture. Put everything in context.

Let me sketch for you an overall framework, and then afterwards, I'll detail each of its pieces.

The framework has two major parts.

There's what I call the trigger, and what I call the ultimate cause.

The trigger part was the bursting of the housing bubble and countless mortgages, many subprime, going bust.

The ultimate cause was the so-called securitization of those mortgages through complex financial instruments called derivatives.

The securitization through derivatives was what made the housing collapse system-threatening and global in scope.

The right likes to focus only on the housing-mortgage element. And even for that, they mis-assign blame.

As you'll see, with both the housing-mortgage trigger, and the securitization-derivatives ultimate cause, the villain is the right-wing deregulation frenzy during the Clinton and Bush administrations.

[Please listen to the podcast for the details, and to hear choice clips from Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Dick Morris and Pat Buchanan...]

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

In the first segment, you'll hear how U.S. soldiers in Iraq are being electrocuted due to faulty electrical work. The work was performed by private contractors hired under the Bush policy of privatization. This perfectly illustrates so much of what's wrong with right-wing ideology and policies.

For example:

Green Beret Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth was stationed at a base in Iraq that used to be one of Saddam's palaces. This 24-year-old Pittsburgh native stepped into the shower in January, 2008.

The water pump was not properly grounded, and when he turned on the shower, a jolt of electricity shot through his body and electrocuted him...

The surging current left burn marks across his body, even singeing his hair. Army reports show that he probably suffered a long, painful death.

There have been 18 electrocution deaths, hundreds of burns, and untold numbers of fires due to bad wiring in Iraq.

So was there a common thread linking these incidents? Were they caused by Al Qaeda saboteur electricians? Sunni insurgent electrical terrorists?

No, they were the fault of Dick Cheney's old cronies. The common thread here is that the multinational corporation KBR did the electrical work on the facilities and equipment involved in these and other incidents.

KBR is on the verge of being charged with negligent homicide by the Army.

This is a perfect example of the detriments of the right-wing policy of privatization.

Much more in the podcast about contractor wrongdoing, and the harmful effects of this right-wing obession with turning everything over to corporate control.

The second segment is a Quickblast: you'll listen to and then learn how to debunk a major right-wing talking point about corporate taxes.

Check out the podcast for all the details.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Today you'll hear all about the right-wing's dishonest, but unfortunately effective propaganda campaign against the estate tax.

A preview of the reality check I'll give you, all aspects of which are fully documented:

-- Only 1/5 of 1% of Americans will ever pay even a penny of estate tax. In other words, 99.8% of Americans will never pay any estate tax.

-- Less than 80 small businesses in the entire country will owe any estate tax in 2009, a year which employs the tax level Obama wants to keep.

-- 18 of the wealthiest American families have poured multiple millions of dollars into a lobbying effort to repeal the estate tax.

-- Cutting federal tax revenues by reducing or eliminating the estate tax is part of the larger right-wing strategy of "starving the beast," defunding the government so it has no money left for a social safety net.

First up, a GAO study found that the Department of Labor, when it was run by right-wingers appointed by George W. Bush, often turned a blind eye when employers cheated low-income workers out of their wages. The Department of Labor is supposed to protect workers.

Next, there have been more revelations of torture, including from an impeccable third party source: the Red Cross. Plus stirrings abroad toward criminal prosecution of Bush administration officials for setting up their regime of torture.

Check out the podcast for all the details.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Today we'll conclude our discussion about FDR's Second Bill of Rights, which deals with economic rights. The focus is on how FDR's concept has taken root worldwide, in the almost unanimously endorsed Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As you'll see, this is much to the dismay and horror of right-wingers.

You'll also hear a QuickBlast debunking the right-wing's cry that there's a "crisis" facing the Social Security system.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

President Obama recently presented some fairly detailed proposals to make changes in the tax code. This is sure to be a major subject of controversy in the months ahead.

Here's a road map for you of today's show:

First I'll give you some historical background about where we stand, economic justice-wise.

Next, the details of Obama's plan. Knowing exactly what's in there is crucial, because it's already being distorted big-time by the right.

Following that, my evaluation of Obama's proposal.

Then onto debunking what you've come to expect, a campaign of lies from the right. Audio clips of Hannity, McCain and other mendacious folk.

Finally, saving perhaps the best for last, you'll hear about a proposed financial transactions tax. It would raise hundreds of billions of dollars almost effortlessly, with actually beneficial effect. You can use this to put the right on the defensive on the tax issue.

If all this sounds interesting, please listen to the podcast for the details.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

It's an open-and-shut case -- no discretion, no wiggle-room, no if's, and's or but's: the Obama administration is legally compelled to investigate the Bush administration, from George W. Bush on down, for the crime of commission of torture.

This is the case despite the contrary analysis of that eminent legal scholar, Bill O'Reilly.

For the facts and laws upon which I base my conclusion, please listen to the podcast.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Ok, right-wingers aren't (at least currently) making any claims about the shape of the Earth, or the composition of the moon. But they are ranting and raving about FDR and the New Deal.

The right is attacking FDR's New Deal spending.

This gives them the perfect opportunity to attack Obama's financial stimulus package.

This is their new mantra:

The New Deal failed.

It's not that right-wingers are heartless, and don't want a New Deal-type effort that will help people. No, it's that the New Deal made things worse, or was even the very cause of the Great Depression.

Right-wingers are just looking out for the little guy. Just like they always do.

Am I being a bit sarcastic today?

Sometimes all I can do is shake my head in disbelief.

For all the gory details, check out the podcast.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

In the first segment, you'll hear about the doctrine of Social Darwinism. It's the pill right-wingers take to allow them to sleep at night. Some audio clips of right-wingers may scare you, so be prepared. Barbara Bush, Bill Cunningham, Neal Boortz and Bill O'Reilly all have some choice words for you.

Next, have you heard about the Bishop of the Poor being elected president of an impoverished Latin American country? He kicked out of power the long-entrenched, extreme right-wing ruling party. I'll tell you what you need to know, as well as reveal the most powerful words I've ever heard; they were spoken to me over a kitchen table, no less.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Today we're going to cover a lot of ground, all geared towards pointing out the error of right-wing ways, in a manner that will convince undecided voters to support Obama.

In the first segment you'll hear how under Democratic administrations, the economic pie has always grown faster, and in a more fairly distributed way, than under Republican rule.

The last half of the show will be a bit of a change of pace. I'll give you a half-dozen or so Quick Blasts on a variety of issues, including answering some of the smears being leveled against Obama, and pointing out the danger of John McCain having his finger on the nuclear trigger.

Usually on Blast The Right you hear me condemn right-wing ideology and policies. Not only the theory, but the negative effect of right-wing rule on flesh-and-blood humans.

Then the idea is, you use the information to win the water cooler wars, to "blast the right."

With just about a month to go before the election, arguing with right-wingers isn't the most productive use of your time now, I don't think.

This presidential election could well be razor-tight. The polls consistently indicate that 4-8% of the electorate says they're undecided. And what really struck me, up to a total of 18% say they could still change their mind.

In other words, they're persuadable.

The undecideds and persuadables aren't guided by ideology or party loyalty. Or else they already would have firmly settled on a candidate.

So in this podcast I'm going to set out Ten Reasons undecideds and persuadables should choose Obama, hopefully in a way undecideds and persuadables will find convincing.

A bit softer in tone and rhetoric than usual, since undecided voters are generally ideological and want "Just the facts, ma'am."

Remember, in addition to the audio of this show, there's a transcript available directly below, in case you want to send all or part of it to an undecided voter you know.

Today you'll hear John McCain become truly incoherent when he tries to address the issue of income and wealth inequality in America. You'll learn why no right-winger can honestly speak to this issue.

And, you'll see that developments in the Bushian grab for Iraq's oil are coming fast and furious. More cronyism, shady deals and outright lies. The No Blood for Oil anti-war slogan rings more true every day.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Today, you'll hear a torrent of new evidence that's just come out which further details the Bush administration's torture regime. You'll learn about the self-styled "War Council," Bush's use of Communist Chinese torture techniques, vehement protests by the military's own lawyers, hiding the abuse from the Red Cross, and, recent medical findings of marks of torture on detainee's bodies.

In a concluding QuickBlast, you'll hear Dick Morris serially lie about Democratic tax plans, and learn how to respond to any right-winger spouting similar nonsense.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Today you're going to hear an unbelievable, yet-every-fact-is-true scenario. It's about how it came to pass that dozens of meetings were held in the White House to decide the most effective ways to torture War On Terror prisoners.

Also, be sure to stay around for my closing comments. You'll learn about Blast The Right transcripts, as well as about some listeners going the activist route. And there's also a new tune to close the show with.

Every week it seems, there's a new revelation, even more hard to believe than the last one, about the Bush administration's lust for war and torture.

I don't know about you, but after a point, do you start to just file them away mentally, saying to yourself, I'll think about that later?

It's almost too much to accept as reality, as something that you have to deal with.

I've picked some highlights here.

Every fact you're about to hear is true.

If it was presented as a movie script, no one would believe it.

In fact, let's imagine I'm pitching such a script to a producer.

How might the script open?

How about this scene:

You see a meeting room, and from what's visible through the window, it could be within the White House. You can't make out who's talking, but it sounds like they're discussing... What?! Whether they can combine water-boarding with stress positions for a prisoner named Muhammad?

Who are these people? Low level operatives sneaking in a meeting at, could it really be, the White House? About an illegal subject?

But before you can find out more, you leave that scene and enter a long series of flashbacks, which show how this maybe-in-the-White-House cabal came to meet...

You first see a bunch of right-wingers of the neocon variety openly plotting for US world domination.

In 1997, neocons like Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush and others sign the founding charter for an organization called the Project for a New American Century, PNAC for short...

For the rest of the script, please listen to the podcast!

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

--in the financial markets, ill intentions by some, and incompetence by others, has led to big problems--to solve these problems, a strong government regulatory effort is needed.

Right-wing ideology does nothing in the way of prevention, and offers nothing in the way of a cure.

Now today, please shift your focus to medicines: same picture.

Right wing ideology has led to big problems, and offers no solutions.

So far, 81 deaths in the United States have been linked to fatal allergic reactions to contaminated batches of the blood thinner heparin. Several hundred more patients have had severe adverse reactions to the drug.

Right-wing ideology, which wholesale opposes government regulation of business, stands in the way of a solution.

Indeed, the Bush administration has been systematically taking apart the Food and Drug Administration, not strengthening it.

Also:

--You'll hear about some unbelievable ideology-driven behavior from another head of a Bush agency. The Senate wanted to give the Consumer Product Safety Commission more money and authority. But guess what? The head of the agency objected!

--I blow apart the right-wing myth about the establishment of federal regulatory agencies. Look behind the story of the creation of virtually any government regulatory body, and you'll find the same thing: a crucial, urgent need that only government action could meet. Ever heard of Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle?

--I undertake maybe a mission impossible: trying to get inside the right-winger head about all this.

Remember Jim Jones, who told his followers to drink the poisonous Kool-Aid, and they did? They had a religious belief in Jones, and would blindly obey his every dictate.

I guess that's what it is with these right-wingers.

Their right wing ideology must be followed no matter what, like a fundamentalist religion.

No matter the consequences to self and others.

Go ahead, kill my pet, kill my kid, even kill me - but don't let the evil government be involved, because that would be --

Today, to start off, you'll hear about yet more right-wing policies that increase human misery, suffering, pain and death, this time concerning the air you breathe. The Bush Environmental Protection Administration weakened two recommendations of its own advisory board on the allowable amount of ozone in the air.

Next up, you'll listen to Sean Hannity use a nasty propaganda technique that I'll analyze for you. In short, Hannity lied about Michelle Obama.

In the last segment, you'll get some useful tips on responding to right-wingers when they claim the earth is flat, or make similarly far-fetched claims in the economic arena. It seems today's right-wingers don't even have the common sense and basic human decency of their own icon, Adam Smith, the founder of conservative economics.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Programming note: Until April, there will most likely not be live shows on alternate weeks.

Ralph Nader recently announced he's running yet again this year for President. I originally thought a segment on that would be a QuickBlast, maybe 2 or 3 minutes.

But the more I thought about it, the more things I realized I had to say.

And the more important I realized the subject was.

What you're about to hear has a wider applicability than just Ralph Nader, and a more durable shelf-life than just this year's election.

It applies to everyone thinking of third party voting in '08, and beyond; to everyone who denigrates electoral politics, this year and thereafter; to everyone who is contemptuous of strategic voting when worldwide life and death issues are at stake, now and in the future.

Discussing the Nader candidacy also provides you and me the opportunity to review what 8 years of right-wing rule has actually meant, not just in theory, but to flesh and blood humans. And hence to establish the stratosphere-high stakes in the '08 elections.

If a runaway train is heading towards you, all you want first thing, is it to be stopped. You don't care if the person stopping it is a great person, you don't care whether they'll reverse the train, if they understand how to prevent runaway trains, or if they'll improve our national rail system.

First and foremost, right now, you just want the damn train stopped in its tracks.

You and I are facing a runaway train, the right-wing project to transform this country into a system of economic feudalism and soft fascism. Another 8 years of right-wing control of the reins of government, and we may well be past the point of no return.

So the mantra today is, stop the runaway train! Cast a vote that will serve to eject the right-wing from control of our government.

Stopping the runaway train is job #1 now, without which we may well be unable to do any other job.

Voting for Nader doesn't accomplish that, and could produce the exact opposite result.

Persuading Nader voters to vote Democratic may well be one of the most direct, effective ways to Blast The Right in the next 8 months...

In the podcast, I'll give you cold hard polling numbers from 2000 that prove Nader cost Gore the election.

You'll hear why supporting Nader is completely illogical.

I'll sketch for you some of the real policy differences between right-wingers and Democrats, not least of which is what will happen to the Supreme Court.

And, I'll let you know in no uncertain terms what gets me the most furious at Nader supporters who say they don’t care if their actions wind up electing a right-winger:

It's their cavalier attitude towards the suffering of others.

I'll detail for you some of the additional human misery, suffering, pain and death that will be inflicted on the innocent in a continuation of right-wing rule, compared to even an admittedly-flawed Democratic administration.

--Haitian women and children so hungry and desperate they eat cookies made of dirt. What's that got to do with you and me? If we're largely to blame, what can we do to remedy the situation? (Here are the two links promised in the podcast:Bipartisan Letter on HaitiHouse/Senate Jubilee Act)

--Right-wingers so callous and vicious they blame victims of natural disasters for their own fate. Listen to Neil Boortz make Bill O'Reilly seem statesmanlike by comparison!

--And, in a change of pace, some campaign '08 strategy suggestions from yours truly, including the necessity to re-define John McCain. You'll also hear how George Bush has been like a man throwing a lit cigarette into a tinder dry woods, and how that analogy can help defeat Republicans in November.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Programming note: Until March, there will most likely not be live shows on alternate weeks.

Today, a really big change of pace. You'll be treated not to one subject in depth, or even two topics with extended segments.

No, today I have 5 QuickBlasts for you, in the areas of foreign policy, taxation, regulation of business and health care.

Let's get right into it.

Sometimes you don't need long permutations and combinations of an issue, you just need a solid fact or two to whack a right-winger upside the head -- intellectually, not physically of course -- so as to get their attention, and maybe knock some sense into them, penetrate that thick wall of denial and unreality that so many right-wingers have surrounding their brains.

Sometimes less is more.

This will be like a short, intense 5 round fight.

In one corner, progressive truth. In the other corner, right-wing distortions, half-truths and outright lies you currently hear bandied about on the corporate media.

Are you ready to rumble?

The fight card:

Round 1: Right-wing lies about why we went to war in Iraq

Round 2: The Republican claim that Democrats don't support the troops, and that the military community is behind President Bush

Round 3: Another campaign lie: Democrats want to raise your taxes

Round 4: Nonsensical right-wing policy position: there's too much government regulation of business

Round 5: Another nonsensical right-wing policy claim: we already have the best health care system in the world

If you want to see the right-wing get knocked silly, if not knocked out completely, just listen to the podcast.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Programming note: Until February, there will most likely not be live shows on alternate weeks.

Today you'll hear exposed as a falsehood the pervasive myth -- pushed hardest by the right-wing -- that there is great economic mobility in the United States. You'll see that the real picture is not so pretty.

The conventional political wisdom has always been, the public doesn't care much about income and wealth inequality, because of the widely shared belief that everyone has a shot at becoming rich, that there is great economic mobility in the United States.

The right-wing, by its own admission, needs the mobility myth to justify and allow the perpetuation of rampant inequality.

Here's the reality: a report released as a joint effort by four major think tanks, including two ultra-conservative ones, the American Enterprise Institute and The Heritage Foundation, concludes

[N]ew data...raises provocative questions about the continuing ability of all Americans to move up the economic ladder and calls into question whether the American economic meritocracy is still alive and well.

Recent studies suggest that there is less economic mobility in the United States than has long been presumed. The last thirty years has seen a considerable drop-off in median household income growth compared to earlier generations. And, by some measurements, we are actually a less mobile society than many other nations, including Canada, France, Germany and most Scandinavian countries. This challenges the notion of America as the land of opportunity.

You'll find much more in the podcast you can use when conversing with your friendly local right-winger.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Programming note: Until February, there will most likely not be live shows on alternate weeks.

Today we'll review what the right-wing was up to in 2007, as you heard it on Blast The Right. Plus, I'll have some updates for you.

Usually this podcast covers one or two topics in depth. Today you'll hear a summation of over 40 podcasts, so the pace will be brisk.

In order to get a handle on this year's subjects, I grouped the podcasts by subject matter, and that's how I'll go through them. You can see that document organizing the podcasts by subject matter here.

When going through this year's podcasts, the standout theme just leaped out at me, best exemplified by the Biblical passage where it says that by their fruits shall you know them, and that "the bad tree bears evil fruit." The bad Bushian right wing tree had indeed borne evil fruit -- increased human misery, suffering, pain and death. This was obvious for all to see this year

The Bushian fruit was probably no more evident than in the ever-increasing cascade of stories in 2007 about unhealthy, dangerous products and practices afflicting Americans, which were the results of the Bush mania for hollowing out and crippling the regulatory agencies. This they did through budget cuts, draconian staff reductions and woefully misguided policies.

The next major subject we covered was economic justice. I devoted more podcasts to this than just about any other issue.

You know my mantra: Everything the right-wing does is designed to accomplish one of two things: either (a) transfer wealth from everyone else to the rich, or (b) distract everyone else from the fact that (a) is occurring.

There was a growing stream of information all year showing just how amazingly earnest and successful the right-wing has been with this wealth transfer.

The other major area discussed this year was foreign policy and Western economic exploitation of the Third World. The Blast The Right theme here is, as at home, so abroad.

Did you know the US tried to steal Iraq's oil in 2007?

For the details of the above three areas, and much more, please listen to the podcast!

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Programming note: Until January, there will most likely not be live shows on alternate weeks.

Today you'll hear how extreme right-wing policies of the United States literally cause starvation and death in the Third World.

And, I'll show you the link between this unfortunate situation, and two hot button front page issues in the US, health care, and the occupation of Iraq.

The microcosm will be Malawi, where right-wingers in the US and international financial institutions insisted that the government cut back if not eliminate its fertilizer subsidies to small farmers. The result: famine and death.

The marcrocosm will be the entire Third World: how Western economic policies are designed to, and all too well do, transfer wealth from poor nations to the rich.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Programming note: Until January, there will most likely not be live shows on alternate weeks.

Today you'll hear a whirlwind tour of my thoughts on right-wing Christians, especially on how to effectively debate them.The centerpiece of this week's show is my Equivalent Alternative Solutions challenge.

Right-wing Christians, from the roots of their right-wing ideology to the fruits of their policies, violate the most fundamental of the teachings of Jesus regarding how we're to interact with our brother and sister humans. These teachings are most powerfully expressed in the 25th book of Matthew, verses 31-46, the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

This is extraordinarily important, so even if you're not Christian or not of any religious bent at all, still, listen up! It's critical to your being an effective progressive advocate that you know this stuff. It's the basis of my Equivalent Alternative Solutions challenge.

Please be aware that the word stranger in the Bible is a synonym for refugee and immigrant.

On Judgment Day, before Jesus

...will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them…the sheep at his right hand…the goats at the left. 34. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come…inherit the kingdom prepared for you… 35. for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36. I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37. Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? 38. And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? 39. And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' 40. And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' 41. Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42. for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44. Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' 45. Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' 46. And they will go away into eternal punishment…

I wasn't raised a Christian, but when I read this for the first time it literally blew me away. It still does

I'll now show you how to use this Matthew 25 passage to irrefutably challenge right-wing Christians, especially in each and every situation where they oppose a plan to reduce human suffering.

You tell them, it's fine to oppose government programs to help the Matthew 25 "least of these," as conservative Christians usually do. But to avoid violating the Matthew 25 injunction, conservative Christians must then propose their own Equivalent Alternative Solutions.

Equivalent Alternative Solutions are ones which:

• help at least the same number of people who legitimately need help • provide at least the same amount of assistance • get the help to them at least as quickly, and• are at least as certain to accomplish these goals

Equivalent Alternative Solutions can certainly be completely non-governmental, as long as they meet these four criteria.

But conservative Christians consistently both oppose the plans of others to help the "least of these," and fail to offer Equivalent Alternative Solutions of their own.

Conservative Christians -- whether voters, politicians or talk show hosts -- must be challenged: "What about Matthew 25? If you oppose my plan to help some of the "least of these," what do you propose instead? How does what you're espousing here fulfill what Jesus commanded in Matthew 25? In fact, isn't what you're doing exactly what Jesus condemned in Matthew 25, not helping the least of these?"

That's the EAS challenge.

Right-wingers won't have an answer, but they'll raise any of a host of objections to the challenge.

Let's go through them comprehensively, so you're prepared for whatever is thrown at you.

To hear the objections, and how to respond, just listen to the podcast!

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Programming note: Until January, there will most likely not be live shows on alternate weeks.

Today you'll hear all about the true bottom line when it comes to the right-wing.

As part of this, you'll hear some breathtaking clips of Franklin Delano Roosevelt condemning the right-wingers of his time.

A preview:

One of my favorite quotes of all-time is from John Kenneth Galbraith:

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

I have what I call the Jack Clark corollary to that wonderful Galbraith passage.

Everything the right-wing does is designed to accomplish one of two things, either:(a) transfer wealth from everyone else to the rich, or,(b) distract everyone else from the fact that (a) is occurring.

For example, since 1980, the richest 1% of Americans have doubled their share of the nation's income.

It's the most unequal situation since the Great Depression.

Transfer wealth from everyone else, to the wealthy.

Here's a bit of what Roosevelt said, that you can hear directly from his own mouth, in the podcast:

The royalists of the economic order have conceded that political freedom was the business of the Government, but they have maintained that economic slavery was nobody's business. They granted that the Government could protect the citizen in his right to vote, but they denied that the Government could do anything to protect the citizen in his right to work and his right to live.

Today we stand committed to the proposition that freedom is no half-and-half affair. If the average citizen is guaranteed equal opportunity in the polling place, he must have equal opportunity in the market place.

These economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power.

Check out the podcast for the rest!

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Jack
Clark documents the right's wars on the poor,
civil liberties, the right of workers to organize
at work and obtain a decent working wage and work
conditions, and against other countries who refuse
to accept American domination. Jack provides all
the sources so that you can see for yourself how
the right is out to enrich itself at the expense
of everyone else. Great job, Jack!

Submitted By: magyarbill

awesome
show

Clark
always backs up his statements against
the right wing with fact and data, which
gives him all the more credibility.
As conglomerate media controlled by
politics clouds the mainstream news
media, Jack Clark, along with NPR and
Democracy Now! have become my primary
news source. Awesome podcast!

Submitted By: jgates118

In-Depth,
Meaty, Hardcore Knowledge

This
podcast is not just entertainment, humor,
chimp-bashing, or gee-whiz recap of
the weeks events. Instead, it hits hard
and in-depth on the world economic situation
and how right-wing policies impact the
poor and less advantaged all over the
world. He examines Americas support
of the World Bank, IMF,multinational
corporations, etc., and connects the
dots. This is a podcast for grown-ups.
He gives good reasons why the right
wing is NOT living up to its precious
Bible, without putting down the Bible.
As a Jesus-loving Christian and moderate
Democrat, I respect this podcast for
its subject matter. The grown-up manner
of the speaker is just icing on the
cake. He IS funny, but hes not trying
to be, he just has a deadpan delivery
but doesnt have to make jokes to make
it interesting. The facts make it interesting
and devastating.

Submitted By: ebrenn1

A
Breath of Fresh Air

Jack
Clarks Blast the Right podcast is truly
a breath of fresh air when it comes
to political commentary. Jack is not
like some commentators who simply climb
on their soap box and state their own
opinions as fact. Instead, Jack welcomes
competent challenges to his way of thinking,
and with logical analysis and sound
research, debunks the lies, distortions,
and self-deceptions of the right wing.
I strongly recommend Blast the Right
for people who seek the truth and care
more about the long term health and
well-being of the whole citizenry than
the short term personal gain advocated
by modern conservatives. Listen as Jack
carefully shows how the high-sounding
"God and country" rhetoric
of the right wing is really just a smokescreen
for policies that ultimately lead only
to the increased misery, suffering,
and death of the less fortunate for
the particular benefit of the wealthy
and the well-connected. And, if you
find yourself in agreement, return to
Podcast Alley to place your vote! Thanks!